Backlight unit provided with supporter of light source unit, manufacturing method of the supporter, and display device including the backlight unit

ABSTRACT

An exemplary embodiment provides a backlight unit including: a bottom chassis; a supporter positioned to extend along one edge of the bottom chassis; a light source unit fixed to the supporter; and a light guide plate that is positioned on the bottom chassis and is configured to transmit light emitted from a light source of the light source unit. The supporter may include a main body of which at least one corner area is cut and an insertion portion that is positioned at the corner area. Each of the main body and the insertion portion may include a base portion and a side wall, and the side wall of the insertion portion may extend from the side wall of the main body and in a direction different than a direction of the side wall of the main body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2016-0098418 filed in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office on Aug. 2, 2016, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND (a) Technical Field

This disclosure relates to a backlight unit provided with a supporter ofa light source unit, a manufacturing method of the supporter, and adisplay device including the backlight unit.

(b) Description of the Related Art

A liquid crystal display (LCD) is presently one of the most widely useddisplay devices. The liquid crystal display applies an electric field toa liquid crystal panel including a liquid crystal layer to changealignment of liquid crystal molecules to control light transmittance,thereby displaying an image. The liquid crystal panel itself isnon-emissive, so the liquid crystal display generally includes abacklight unit for supplying light to the liquid crystal panel at a rearside thereof.

Conventionally, a CCFL has been widely used as a light source for thebacklight unit, but an LED has recently been gaining popularity since itprovides superior color reproducibility, a longer lifespan, and lesspower consumption compared to the CCFL. In terms of design aspects,there is a demand for a slimmer display device with a thin bezel, thusthe backlight unit may be a major factor in designing the slimmerdisplay device.

The above information disclosed in this Background section is only forenhancement of understanding of the background and therefore it maycontain information that does not form the prior art that is alreadyknown in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

SUMMARY

Embodiments provide a backlight unit that may minimize a bezel width ofa display device and may improve uniformity of light, a method forsimply manufacturing a supporter of a light source unit in the backlightunit, and a display device including the backlight unit.

An exemplary embodiment provides a backlight unit including: a bottomchassis; a supporter positioned to extend along one edge of the bottomchassis; a light source unit fixed to the supporter; and a light guideplate that is positioned on the bottom chassis and is configured totransmit light emitted from a light source of the light source unit. Thesupporter may include a main body of which at least one corner area iscut, and an insertion portion that is positioned at the corner area.Each of the main body and the insertion portion may include a baseportion and a side wall, and the side wall of the insertion portion mayextend from the side wall of the main body and in a direction differentthan a direction of the side wall of the main body.

Two side surfaces of the insertion portion may directly contact two sidesurfaces of the main body.

At a portion at which the two side surfaces of the insertion portiondirectly contact the two side surfaces of the main body, an uppersurface of the base portion of the insertion portion may be flush withan upper surface of the base portion of the main body.

The upper surface of the base portion of the insertion portion may besubstantially trapezoidal.

Each of the main body and the insertion portion may be fixed to thebottom chassis by a screw.

One of the base portion of the insertion portion and the base portion ofthe main body may include a protrusion, and the other thereof mayinclude a receiving portion corresponding to the protrusion.

The protrusion may include a portion having a width that widens closerto an end thereof.

The protrusion may have a wedge-shaped cross-section.

The insertion portion may include a first insertion portion and a secondinsertion portion that directly contact each other, and a direction inwhich a side wall of the first insertion portion extends and a directionin which a side wall of the second insertion portion extends mayintersect.

The light source unit may include a substrate and a plurality of lightsources mounted to the substrate. The substrate may include a firstportion and a second portion extending from the first portion, and maybe bent at a boundary of the first portion and the second portion.

The first portion of the substrate may face the side wall of the mainbody of the supporter, and the second portion of the substrate may facethe side wall of the insertion portion of the supporter.

Another embodiment provides a manufacturing method of a supporter whichfixes a light source unit in a backlight unit, including: forming anextrusion bar that includes a base portion and a side portion; cuttingthe extrusion bar to a predetermined length, and forming a main body ofthe supporter by cutting at least one corner area of the cut extrusionbar; forming an insertion portion that is fitted to the corner area ofthe main body by cutting a portion including the base portion and theside portion of the extrusion bar; and inserting the insertion portioninto the corner area of the main body.

In the supporter, a side wall of the insertion portion may extend from aside wall of the main body and in a direction different than a directionof the side wall of the main body.

In the supporter, two side surfaces of the insertion portion maydirectly contact two side surfaces of the main body, and at a portion atwhich the two side surfaces of the insertion portion directly contactthe two side surfaces of the main body, an upper surface of the baseportion of the insertion portion may be flush with an upper surface ofthe base portion of the main body.

The cutting of the at least one corner area of the cut extrusion bar mayinclude cutting the corner area in a substantially rectangular planarshape.

The cutting of the portion including the base portion and the sideportion of the extrusion bar may include cutting the portion in asubstantially trapezoidal planar shape.

Yet another embodiment provides a display device including: a displaypanel; and a backlight unit that is configured to provide light to thedisplay panel. The backlight unit may include: a bottom chassis; asupporter positioned to extend along one edge of the bottom chassis; alight source unit fixed to the supporter; and a light guide plate thatis positioned on the bottom chassis and is configured to transmit lightemitted from a light source of the light source unit. The supporter mayinclude a main body of which at least one corner area is cut, and aninsertion portion that is positioned at the corner area. Each of themain body and the insertion portion may include a base portion and aside wall, and the side wall of the insertion portion may extend fromthe side wall of the main body and in a direction different than adirection of the side wall of the main body.

Two side surfaces of the insertion portion may directly contact two sidesurfaces of the main body, and at a portion at which the two sidesurfaces of the insertion portion directly contact the two side surfacesof the main body, an upper surface of the base portion of the insertionportion may be flush with an upper surface of the base portion of themain body.

The light source unit may include a substrate and a plurality of lightsources mounted to the substrate. The substrate may include a firstportion and a second portion extending from the first portion, and maybe bent at a boundary of the first portion and the second portion.

The first portion of the substrate may face the side wall of the mainbody of the supporter, and the second portion of the substrate may facethe side wall of the insertion portion of the supporter.

The bottom chassis may be positioned between the base portions of themain body and the insertion portion and the light guide, and the lightsource unit may be positioned between the side walls of the main bodyand the insertion portion and one end portion of the light guide plate.

A corner of the display device may be rounded.

According to the embodiments, it is possible to minimize a bezel widthof a display device and to improve uniformity of light emitted from abacklight unit. Further, it is possible to simply and inexpensivelymanufacture a supporter for fixing a light source unit to the backlightunit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a display device according to anexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line II-IP of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III′ ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating an end portion of a supporteraccording to an exemplary embodiment along with a light source unit.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating only the end portion of thesupporter excluding the light source unit from FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary view of a state in which a supporter anda bottom chassis according to an exemplary embodiment are fastened.

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic view of an end portion of a supporteraccording to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII′ ofFIG. 7.

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic view of various planar shapes ofprotrusions of a supporter according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates a schematic view of an end portion of a supporteraccording to another exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates a manufacturing process of a supporter according toan exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates an assembling process of a backlight unit accordingto an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The inventive concept will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsare shown. As those skilled in the art would realize, the describedembodiments may be modified in various different ways, all withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure.

To clearly describe the present disclosure, portions which do not relateto the description are omitted, and like reference numerals designatelike elements throughout the specification.

Further, the size and thickness of each component shown in the drawingsare arbitrarily shown for better understanding and ease of description,but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In the drawings, thethickness of layers, films, panels, regions, etc., are exaggerated forclarity. For better understanding and ease of description, the thicknessof some layers and areas is exaggerated.

It will be understood that when an element such as a layer, film,region, or substrate is referred to as being “on” another element, itcan be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyon” another element, there are no intervening elements present. Further,in the specification, the word “on” or “above” means positioned on orabove the object portion without a gravitational reference.

In addition, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word“comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” will beunderstood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not theexclusion of any other elements.

The phrase “on a plane” means viewing the object portion from the top,and the phrase “on a cross-section” means viewing a cross-section ofwhich the object portion is vertically cut from the side.

A display device according to an exemplary embodiment will now bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. The displaydevice may be a liquid crystal display, but is not limited to thereto,and it may be a non-emission display device including a backlight unit.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a display device 10 according toan exemplary embodiment, FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view takenalong line II-II′ of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectionalview taken along line of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a front view of the display device 10.The display device 10 is rectangular overall, but is formed to haverounded corners. A display area DA for displaying an image occupies mostof an entire region of the display device 10, and a non-display area NAsurrounds the display area DA. The non-display area NA is called abezel. The display area DA is rectangular overall to be similar to thedisplay device 10, and is formed to have rounded corners. It isillustrated that the display device 10 and the display area DArespectively have four rounded corners in FIG. 1, but they may havevariously shaped corners. For example, they may be formed to have anoverall octagonal shape with oblique corners, a rectangular shape withangular corners, or a shape with only one or two rounded corners.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an edge portion(hereinafter referred to as a light input section) at which a lightsource unit 230 of the display device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is positioned,and FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an edge portion(hereinafter referred to as an opposing light section) at which thelight source unit 230 of an opposite side of the light input section isnot positioned. Although the light input section may be positioned on atleast one edge of the display device 10, the case in which it ispositioned on a lower edge thereof will be exemplarily described. FIG. 3illustrates a cross-sectional view of an upper edge portion of thedisplay device 10, but cross-sectional views of a left edge portion anda right edge portion may correspond to FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, the display device 10 includesa display panel 100 and a backlight unit 200. The display device 10includes frames 310 and 320 for fixing the display panel 100 to thebacklight unit 200 between the display panel 100 and the backlight unit200. The display device 10 includes a top chassis 400 which covers anedge of the display panel 100, protects the display panel 100, andprevents the display panel 100 from being separated from the backlightunit 200. In the shown exemplary embodiment, the top chassis 400 ispositioned only at the light input section, but the top chassis 400 maybe positioned along a border of the display device 10, or may beomitted. A back cover 500 which covers a drive device, a power supply,and the like for operating the display device 10 is positioned at a backsurface of the backlight unit 200.

The display panel 100 is a liquid crystal panel in which a liquidcrystal layer is interposed between two transparent substrates that areprovided with switching elements, electrodes, color filters, etc., and apolarizer is attached to a surface of each substrate. The display panel100 displays an image by controlling transmittance of light that isemitted from the backlight unit 200, and passes through the polarizerand the liquid crystal layer by a drive device.

The backlight unit 200 for providing light to the display panel 100 ispositioned below the display panel 100. The backlight unit 200 includesa bottom chassis 210, a supporter 220, the light source unit 230, andoptical elements 260, 270, and 280, i.e., a reflective sheet 260, alight guide plate 270, and an optical sheet 280, respectively, foruniformly providing light emitted from the light source unit 230 to thedisplay panel 100.

An upper portion of the bottom chassis 210 is open, and the bottomchassis 210 is a container with a predetermined depth. For example, thebottom chassis 210 may be substantially formed to have an entirelyrectangular tray shape. The bottom chassis 210 includes a substantiallyflat bottom plate 211, and a side wall 212 upwardly extending from acircumference of the bottom plate 211. The side wall 212 may be formedto have the same height at four edges of the bottom chassis 210 or tohave a different height at at least one edge thereof, or the side wall212 may not be formed at any edge thereof. For example, the side wall ofthe bottom chassis 210 may not be formed at the light input section atwhich the light source unit 230 is positioned, as shown in FIG. 2.

The bottom chassis 210 may be made of a metal material such as aluminum,an aluminum alloy, and a zinc-coated steel plate. The bottom chassis 210may be made of a plastic material such as polycarbonate.

The optical elements including the reflective sheet 260, the light guideplate 270, and the optical sheet 280 are accommodated in the bottomchassis 210. In the light input section, the supporter 220 to which thelight source unit 230 including a substrate 231 and light sources 232 iscombined is positioned at a back surface of the bottom chassis 210.

The supporter 220 fixes the light source unit 230, and it serves as akind of radiating component for transmitting heat generated from thelight source unit 230 to the bottom chassis 210. The supporter 220 maybe made of a metal material having good thermal conductivity to quicklytransmit the heat generated from the light source unit 230 to the bottomchassis 210, thereby preventing the light source unit 230 fromoverheating. For example, the supporter 220 may be made of aluminum, analuminum alloy, or the like by using extrusion molding.

The supporter 220 may be fixed to the bottom chassis 210 by a fasteningmember such as a screw so that the light source unit 230 may bemaintained at a predetermined position. Since the supporter 220accommodates the light source unit 230, as shown with a dotted line inFIG. 1, it is positioned throughout an entire length of the light inputsection. Although an entire planar shape of the supporter 220 issubstantially rectangular, two corners facing in a long side directionthereof are formed like being obliquely cut for minimizing a bezel widthof the display device 10 and fitting them to the rounded corners of thedisplay device 10. The obliquely cut corners of the supporter 220 may bepositioned between the rounded corners of the display device 10 and therounded corners of the display area DA. Detail structures of thesupporter 220 and the light source unit 230 will be described later.

The light guide plate 270 accommodated in the bottom chassis 210 ispositioned on the bottom plate 211 of the bottom chassis 210 so that oneedge thereof may be adjacent to the light source 232. The light guideplate 270 guides light emitted from the light source 232 and transmitsit to the liquid crystal panel 100, also called the display panel 100.The light guide plate 270 serves to convert the light generated from thelight source unit 230, which has an optical distribution of a point orline light source, into light having an optical distribution of asurface light source, that is, to uniformly distribute the generatedlight. The light guide plate 270 may be slightly larger than the displayarea DA so as to provide light to an overall display area DA of thedisplay device 10. In the planar shape thereof, the corners of the lightguide plate 270 may be obliquely or roundly formed to correspond to thedisplay area DA with the rounded corners. For example, the light guideplate 270 may have an overall octagonal planar shape.

The reflective sheet 260 is positioned below the light guide plate 270,that is, between the light guide plate 270 and the bottom chassis 210.The reflective sheet 260 reflects the light traveling toward the lightguide plate 270 such that the reflected light is finally directed towardthe display panel 100, thereby improving optical efficiency. Thereflective sheet 260 may have a planar shape corresponding to the lightguide plate 270.

The optical sheet 280 is positioned on the light guide plate 270. Forexample, the optical sheet 280 may include a diffuser sheet, a prismsheet, and a protective sheet. The diffuser sheet is used to allow thelight emitted from the light guide plate 270 to have uniformdistribution, that is, to generate a surface light source of uniformbrightness. The prism sheet controls a traveling direction of the lightdiffused by the diffuser sheet to be perpendicular to the display panel100. The protective sheet may be used to protect a prism of the prismsheet from scratches and the like. The protective sheet may also serveto widen a viewing angle that is previously narrowed by the prism sheetby diffusing light. The optical sheet 280 may not include any of theprism sheet and the protective sheet, or may include a plurality ofprism sheets or protective sheets. The optical sheet 280 may furtherinclude a reflective polarizer sheet that can improve luminanceefficiency by separating, transmitting, and reflecting polarizationcomponents of light. The optical sheet 280 may have a planar shapecorresponding to the light guide plate 270.

In the frames 310 and 320 for stably fixing the display panel 100 at apredetermined height, the frame 310 positioned at the light inputsection is structurally different from the frame 320 positioned at theopposing light section. For example, the frame 310 of the light inputsection may include a portion closely attached to a side surface of thesupporter 220 and a portion pressing the optical sheet 280, and theframe 320 of the opposing light section may include a portion into whichthe side wall 212 of the bottom chassis 210 is inserted to be closelyattached to the bottom chassis 210 and a portion pressing the opticalsheet 280. The frame 320 is fixed to the bottom chassis 210 by a screw52. The frame 310 may be fixed to the supporter 220 by a fasteningmember (not shown) such as a screw or a hook. The display panel 100 isfixedly attached to a flat surface of frame 320 by an adhesion member 51such as a double-sided adhesive tape. In the light input section, thedisplay panel 100 is fixed on the flat surface of the frame 310, or maynot be fixed thereon but may be placed thereon. The frame 310 may becovered by the top chassis 400, and some of the frame 320 may be exposedto the outside. Based on such a structure, the display device 10 may bedesigned to have a thin thickness.

The overall configuration of the display device 10 has been described.The supporter 220 and the light source unit 230 of the backlight unit200 of the display device 10 according to the exemplary embodiment willnow be described in detail. Although not specially mentioned below, thepreviously described drawings will be referred to.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating an end portion of a supporter220 according to an exemplary embodiment along with a light source unit230, FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating only the end portion of thesupporter 220 excluding the light source unit 230 from FIG. 4, and FIG.6 illustrates an exemplary view of a state in which the supporter 220and a bottom plate 211 of a bottom chassis 210 according to an exemplaryembodiment are fastened.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, one end portion of the supporter 220 andthe light source unit 230 is illustrated. The supporter 220 includes amain body 220 a and an insertion portion 220 b positioned at a cornerarea of the main body 220 a. An opposite end portion of the supporter220 may be symmetrical with respect to the shown end portion, thus adescription for the opposite end portion will be omitted.

The main body 220 a of the planar shape has a shape in which one cornerarea of an entirely long rectangle is cut to have a substantiallyrectangular form. The main body 220 a includes a base portion 221 a forlimiting the overall planar shape and a side wall 222 a upwardlyprotruding along an edge of one long side direction of the base portion221 a. Referring to FIG. 2 as well, the base portion 221 a may include atrench 22 a formed by being slightly dug by a predetermined width (w)and depth (d) near the side wall 222 a. A height (h) of the side wall222 a may be entirely constant, and it may be substantially the same asa width of short side direction of the substrate 231 of the light sourceunit 230.

The insertion portion 220 b is positioned to fill the cut corner area ofthe main body 220 a, and it has a planar shape substantially of atrapezoid. Accordingly, in the supporter 220, the portion at which theinsertion portion 220 b is positioned has a planar shape in which onecorner of the rectangle is obliquely cut. Similar to the main body 220a, the insertion portion 220 b includes a base portion 221 b and a sidewall 222 b, and a height of the side wall 222 b may be the same as thatof the side wall 222 a. Similar to the planar shape of the insertionportion 220 b, a top surface of the base portion 221 b may betrapezoidal. The base portion 221 b may include a trench 22 b near theside wall 222 b, and a width and depth thereof may correspond to thewidth and depth of the trench 22 a of the base portion 221 a.

Two side surfaces of the insertion portion 220 b directly contact thetwo cut side surfaces of the main body 220 a to fit therein. In aportion at which the two side surfaces of the insertion portion 220 bdirectly contact the corresponding two side surfaces of the main body220 a, a top surface of the base portion 221 b of the insertion portion220 b is flush with a top surface of the base portion 221 a of the mainbody 220 a. Accordingly, even though the main body 220 a and theinsertion portion 220 b are separate components, they are smoothlyconnected to each other as just one component. Thus, it is possible toprevent an undesired warp or gap from occurring in and between elementssuch as the bottom chassis 210 and the light guide plate 270 that may bepositioned on the supporter 220.

The side wall 222 a of the main body 220 a and the side wall 222 b ofthe insertion portion 220 b directly contact each other as a single bentside wall. Accordingly, the side wall 222 a and the side wall 222 bextend in different directions. For example, an extending direction ofthe side wall 222 a and an extending direction of the side wall 222 bmay form an angle of about 20 to 70 degrees, but the embodiments are notlimited thereto. The cut corner of the supporter 220 is defined by thedirections in which the side walls 222 a and 222 b extend.

Referring FIG. 2 as well, in the backlight unit 200, the base portions221 a and 221 b of the supporter 220 may be positioned to be closelyattached to a lower portion of the bottom chassis 210, and the sidewalls 222 a and 222 b of the supporter 220 may be positioned to bespaced apart from the side surface of the bottom chassis 210. Thesupporter 220 may be combined with the bottom chassis 210 by a fasteningmember (not shown) such as a screw that passes through the bottomchassis 210 and is tightened with the supporter 220. In further detail,referring to FIG. 6, the main body 220 a of the supporter 220 mayinclude a hole 21 a formed in the base portion 221 a, and the bottomchassis 210 may include a hole 11 a formed in the bottom plate 211 at aposition corresponding to the hole 21 a. Further, the insertion portion220 b of the supporter 220 may include a hole 21 b formed in the baseportion 221 b, and bottom chassis 210 may include a hole 11 b formed inthe bottom plate 211 at a position corresponding to the hole 21 b. Themain body 220 a may be fixed to the bottom chassis 210 by the screw 52passing through the hole 11 a to be coupled with the hole 21 a, and theinsertion portion 220 b may be fixed to the bottom chassis 210 by thescrew 52 passing through the hole 11 b to be coupled with the hole 21 b.Accordingly, even though the supporter 220 is formed to have the mainbody 220 a and the insertion portion 220 b be independent as separatepieces, each of them is coupled with the bottom chassis 210 by thescrew, thereby maintaining the supporter 220 to have a predeterminedshape.

The light source unit 230 is fixed to the side walls 222 a and 222 b ofthe supporter 220. The light source unit 230 includes the substrate 231and the light sources 232 mounted on the substrate 231. The substrate231 supports the light sources 232 and supplies power thereto. Thesubstrate 231 may have an elongated bar shape having an overall narrowwidth. A wide surface of the substrate 231 is closely attached to theside walls 222 a and 222 b through an adhesion member (not shown) suchas a double-sided adhesive tape. The substrate 231 may be fixed to theside walls 222 a and 222 b by a fastening member such as a screw. Someof the substrate 231 may be positioned in the trenches 22 a and 22 b.

The substrate 231 may be a printed circuit board (PCB), andparticularly, may be a metal core printed circuit board (MCPCB). Thesubstrate 231 is closely attached to the side walls 222 a and 222 b ofthe supporter 220, and the supporter 220 is closely attached to thebottom chassis 210, thus heat generated from the light sources 232 israpidly transmitted to the bottom chassis 210 through the substrate 231and the supporter 220 to be able to be discharged to the outside. Thatis, the substrate 231, the supporter 220, and the bottom chassis 210 mayserve as a heat sink of the light sources 232.

The light sources 232 are electrically connected to a wire of thesubstrate 231 to receive power, thereby converting electrical energyinto light energy and then emitting it. The light sources 232 may be alight emitting diode (LED) package, and may be disposed at predeterminedintervals on the substrate 231. The light sources 232 are positionedbetween the side walls 222 a and 222 b and the light guide plate 270 sothat light emitting surfaces thereof are toward the light guide plate270. A point light source or a linear light source other than the LEDpackage may be used as the light sources 232, generally referred to asthe light source 232.

The substrate 231 includes a first portion 231 a and a second portion231 b. The first portion 231 a and the second portion 231 b correspondto portions of the substrate 231 which is bent, and they are dividedbased on the bent boundary. The first portion 231 a is attached to theside wall 222 a of the main body 220 a, and the second portion 231 b isattached to the side wall 222 b of the insertion portion 220 b.Accordingly, the substrate 231 may be maintained in a state of beingbent at a predetermined angle, and the light source 232 including lightsources 232 a and 232 b positioned at the respective portions 231 a and231 b may be maintained in a designed position and direction in thedisplay device 10.

In the present exemplary embodiment, since the corner of the displayarea DA of the display device 10 is rounded, in order to evenly providelight to all of the display area DA, it is required that the lightsource 232 b is disposed closely thereto to correspond to the roundedcorner portion of the display area DA. If not so, since left and rightedges of the display area DA are relatively darkened, a complicatedstructure and drive design for compensating this may be required. In thepresent exemplary embodiment, the end portion of the light source unit230 is formed to be bent, and the supporter 220 consisting of acombination of the main body 220 a and the insertion portion 220 b isformed to be able to fix the light source unit 230 with the bent endportion. Accordingly, the light source 232 may be disposed at therounded corner portion of the non-display area (NA) of the displaydevice 10, and the corner of the display device 10 may be designed to berounded while minimizing the bezel width thereof.

Another exemplary embodiment will now be described with reference toFIG. 7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10.

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic view of an end portion of a supporter 220according to an exemplary embodiment, FIG. 8 illustrates across-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII′ of FIG. 7, and FIG. 9illustrates a schematic view of various planar shapes of protrusions ofa supporter according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 10 illustrates aschematic view of an end portion of a supporter 220 b according toanother exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7, the supporter 220 including the main body 220 a andthe insertion portion 220 b is shown. An overall structure of thesupporter 220 is substantially the same as the exemplary embodiment ofFIG. 5, but there is a difference in that structures P, R for limitingrelative movement of the main body 220 a and the insertion portion 220 bare included therein.

Specifically, the insertion portion 220 b includes a protrusion P and areceiving portion R for allowing the main body 220 a to correspond tothe protrusion P, and the protrusion P is inserted into the receivingportion R. In order to prevent the protrusion P from coming out from thereceiving portion R, the protrusion P may be formed to have a portionthat is widened closer to an edge thereof, and the receiving portion Rmay be formed to correspond to the portion. For such a shape, it isshown that the protrusion P has a trapezoidal planar shape, but theembodiments are not limited thereto, and for example, as shown in anupper row of FIG. 9, various shape that can prevent the protrusion Pfrom coming out from the receiving portion R in a horizontal direction,such as a bulb shape, a hammer shape, a mushroom shape, and the like,may be used.

As shown in the drawing, the protrusion P and the receiving portion Rmay be formed at all of the side surfaces of the main body 220 a and theinsertion portion 220 b that directly contact each other, or may beformed at one thereof. When the protrusion P and the receiving portion Rare formed at all of the side surfaces, as described above, even thoughthe protrusion P is not widened closer to the edge, it is possible toprevent the protrusion P from coming out from the receiving portion R inthe horizontal direction. Accordingly, for example, as shown in a lowerrow of FIG. 9, the protrusion P may be formed to have quadrangular,triangular, or semi-circular planar shapes, and various structures thatcan limit relative movement of the main body 220 a and the insertionportion 220 b may be used.

FIG. 8 illustrates cross-sectional shapes of the protrusion P and thereceiving portion R. The protrusion P may have a wedge-shapedcross-section that narrows closer to a lower portion thereof, and thereceiving portion R may have a cross-section corresponding thereto. Whenthe protrusion P and the receiving portion R have the above-describedcross-sections, the main body 220 a and the insertion portion 220 b maybe assembled by using a way of inserting the protrusion P into thereceiving portion R from the top of the main body 220 a. Due to thewedge shape of the cross-sectional structure, the protrusion P does notcome out from the receiving portion R in a downward direction.Accordingly, even though the insertion portion 220 b is not separatelyfixed to the bottom chassis 210 and the main body 220 a is merely fixedto the bottom chassis 210, it is possible to maintain the insertionportion 220 b to be fixed to the main body 220 a and the bottom chassis210.

Although it has been described that the insertion portion 220 b includesthe protrusion P and the main body 220 a includes the receiving portionR, conversely, the main body 220 a may include the protrusion P and theinsertion portion 220 b may include the receiving portion R. Further,each of the main body 220 a and the insertion portion 220 b may includeat least one of the protrusion P and the receiving portion R.

Referring to FIG. 10, the main body 220 a of the supporter 220 issubstantially the same as that of the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5,but the insertion portion 220 b includes a first insertion portion 220 b1 and a second insertion portion 220 b 2 that are two pieces. The firstinsertion portion 220 b 1 includes a base portion 221 b 1 and a sidewall 222 b 1, and the second insertion portion 220 b 2 also includes abase portion 221 b 2 and a side wall 222 b 2. One side surface of thefirst insertion portion 220 b 1 and one surface of the second insertionportion 220 b 2 directly contact each other, and two side surfaces ofthe first insertion portion 220 b 1, one surface of the second insertionportion 220 b 2, and two side surfaces of the main body 220 a directlycontact each other. The side wall 222 b 1 and the side wall 222 b 2directly contact each other as a single bent side wall, but extend indifferent directions. Accordingly, the supporter 220 has a shape that isbent twice at an end portion thereof, that is, in which the side wallthereof is bent between the side wall 222 a of the main body 220 a andthe side wall 222 b 1 of the first insertion portion 220 b 1 and betweenthe side wall 222 b 1 of the first insertion portion 220 b 1 and theside wall 222 b 2 of the second insertion portion 220 b 2. As describedabove, the end shape of the supporter 220 may be fitted to the design inwhich the end portion of light source unit 230 is bent twice. When thelight source unit 230 is designed to be bent three times, the supporter220 may include three or more pieces of insertion portions so that theside wall may be fitted to be bent three times.

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 illustrate a manufacturing process of the supporteraccording to the exemplary embodiment.

The supporter 220 according to the exemplary embodiments may be formedby cutting one extrusion bar EB. If the end portion of the light sourceunit 230 is not bent but is linear, the supporter 220 may be formed byonly cutting the extrusion bar EB including a base portion and a sidewall to a predetermined length (which corresponds to the length of thelight source unit 230). However, since the light source unit 230according to the exemplary embodiment is bent and the supporter 220 isformed to be fitted to the light source unit 230, the supporter 220 maynot be formed by only cutting the extrusion bar EB to the predeterminedlength, thus a cutting process for forming the main body 220 a and theinsertion portion 220 b described above is required.

Referring to FIG. 11, the main body 220 a of the supporter 220 is formedby cutting the corner area with the side wall, for example, in arectangular shape from an end portion of the extrusion bar cut to thepredetermined length. Further, the insertion portion 220 b fitted to thecut corner area of the main body 220 a may be formed by cutting aportion including the base portion and the side wall, for example, in atrapezoidal shape from the extrusion bar EB. Next, the supporter 220 asshown in FIG. 5 is formed by inserting the insertion portion 220 bobtained by cutting the extrusion bar EB into the cut corner area of themain body 220 a. According to the manufacturing method described above,the planar shape of the supporter 220 in which the side wall thereof isbent and the corner thereof is cut may be manufactured by only twoprocesses (i.e., a process of cutting the corner area from the cutextrusion bar and a process of cutting the insertion portion from theextrusion bar), thereby reducing processes and costs.

FIG. 12 illustrates an assembling process of a backlight unit accordingto an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 12, the light source unit 230 is fixed to the sidewalls 222 a and 222 b of the supporter 220 manufactured as in FIG. 11 byan adhesion member such as a double-sided adhesive tape or a fasteningmember such as a screw. The bottom chassis 210 is closely attached tothe upper portions of the base portions 221 a and 221 b of the supporter220, and may be coupled therewith by a fastening member. The reflectivesheet 260, the light guide plate 270, and the optical sheet 280 aresequentially positioned on the bottom chassis 210. The corner areas ofthe bottom chassis 210, the reflective sheet 260, the light guide plate270, and the optical sheet 280 may be obliquely cut to correspond to thecorner area of the supporter 220, particularly, of the insertion portion220 b.

While the inventive concept has been described in connection with whatis presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is tobe understood that the inventive concept is not limited to the disclosedembodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A backlight unit comprising: a bottom chassis; asupporter positioned to extend along one edge of the bottom chassis; alight source unit fixed to the supporter; and a light guide plate thatis positioned on the bottom chassis and is configured to transmit lightemitted from a light source of the light source unit, wherein thesupporter includes a main body of which at least one corner area is cutand an insertion portion that is positioned at the corner area, and eachof the main body and the insertion portion includes a base portion and aside wall, and the side wall of the insertion portion extends from theside wall of the main body and in a direction different than a directionof the side wall of the main body.
 2. The backlight unit of claim 1,wherein two side surfaces of the insertion portion directly contact twoside surfaces of the main body.
 3. The backlight unit of claim 2,wherein at a portion at which the two side surfaces of the insertionportion directly contact the two side surfaces of the main body, anupper surface of the base portion of the insertion portion is flush withan upper surface of the base portion of the main body.
 4. The backlightunit of claim 1, wherein the upper surface of the base portion of theinsertion portion is substantially trapezoidal.
 5. The backlight unit ofclaim 1, wherein each of the main body and the insertion portion isfixed to the bottom chassis by a screw.
 6. The backlight unit of claim1, wherein one of the base portion of the insertion portion and the baseportion of the main body includes a protrusion, and the other thereofincludes a receiving portion corresponding to the protrusion.
 7. Thebacklight unit of claim 6, wherein the protrusion includes a portionhaving a width that widens closer to an end thereof.
 8. The backlightunit of claim 6, wherein the protrusion has a wedge-shapedcross-section.
 9. The backlight unit of claim 1, wherein the insertionportion includes a first insertion portion and a second insertionportion that directly contact each other, and a direction in which aside wall of the first insertion portion extends and a direction inwhich a side wall of the second insertion portion extends intersect. 10.The backlight unit of claim 1, wherein the light source unit includes asubstrate and a plurality of light sources mounted to the substrate, andthe substrate includes a first portion and a second portion extendingfrom the first portion and is bent at a boundary of the first portionand the second portion.
 11. The backlight unit of claim 10, wherein thefirst portion of the substrate faces the side wall of the main body ofthe supporter, and the second portion of the substrate faces the sidewall of the insertion portion of the supporter.
 12. A manufacturingmethod of a supporter which fixes a light source unit in a backlightunit, comprising: forming an extrusion bar that includes a base portionand a side portion; cutting the extrusion bar to a predetermined length,and forming a main body of the supporter by cutting at least one cornerarea of the cut extrusion bar; forming an insertion portion that isfitted to the corner area of the main body by cutting a portionincluding the base portion and the side portion of the extrusion bar;and inserting the insertion portion into the corner area of the mainbody.
 13. The manufacturing method of the supporter of claim 12, whereinin the supporter, a side wall of the insertion portion extends from aside wall of the main body and in a direction different than a directionof the side wall of the main body.
 14. The manufacturing method of thesupporter of claim 13, wherein in the supporter, two side surfaces ofthe insertion portion directly contact two side surfaces of the mainbody, and at a portion at which the two side surfaces of the insertionportion directly contact the two side surfaces of the main body, anupper surface of the base portion of the insertion portion is flush withan upper surface of the base portion of the main body.
 15. Themanufacturing method of the supporter of claim 14, wherein the cuttingof the at least one corner area of the cut extrusion bar includescutting the corner area in a substantially rectangular planar shape. 16.The manufacturing method of the supporter of claim 15, wherein thecutting of the portion including the base portion and the side portionof the extrusion bar includes cutting the portion in a substantiallytrapezoid planar shape.
 17. A display device comprising: a displaypanel; and a backlight unit that is configured to provide light to thedisplay panel, wherein the backlight unit includes: a bottom chassis; asupporter positioned to extend along one edge of the bottom chassis; alight source unit fixed to the supporter; and a light guide plate thatis positioned on the bottom chassis and is configured to transmit lightemitted from a light source of the light source unit, wherein thesupporter includes a main body of which at least one corner area is cutand an insertion portion that is positioned at the corner area, and eachof the main body and the insertion portion includes a base portion and aside wall, and the side wall of the insertion portion extends from theside wall of the main body and in a direction different than a directionof the side wall of the main body.
 18. The display device of claim 17,wherein two side surfaces of the insertion portion directly contact twoside surfaces of the main body, and at a portion at which the two sidesurfaces of the insertion portion directly contact the two side surfacesof the main body, an upper surface of the base portion of the insertionportion is flush with an upper surface of the base portion of the mainbody.
 19. The display device of claim 17, wherein the light source unitincludes a substrate and a plurality of light sources mounted to thesubstrate, and the substrate includes a first portion and a secondportion extending from the first portion and is bent at a boundary ofthe first portion and the second portion.
 20. The display device ofclaim 19, wherein the first portion of the substrate faces the side wallof the main body of the supporter, and the second portion of thesubstrate faces the side wall of the insertion portion of the supporter.21. The display device of claim 17, wherein the bottom chassis ispositioned between the base portions of the main body and the insertionportion and the light guide, and the light source unit is positionedbetween the side walls of the main body and the insertion portion andone end portion of the light guide plate.
 22. The display device ofclaim 17, wherein a corner of the display device is rounded.